Chapter Text
According to Sans, you slept for a solid week after your ordeal. Even if Papyrus had healed all of your physical wounds, he had said that it may take a while for you to recover from the mental trauma. With the human still locked in the shed, he had set you up in his bed, planning to take the couch until you woke up. That’s what he told you anyway.
In truth, he hadn’t gotten much sleep at all. After the first night, he had taken to sitting by your side almost constantly, sometimes falling asleep sprawled across the floor with his head resting on the mattress, close to your chest. He found the soft humming of your soul comforting; it meant that even though you looked dead, you were in there somewhere. While he trusted his brothers powers, every day that passed without a twitch from you increasingly concerned him.
Undyne had returned on the second day; she had come home earlier than planned after hearing about everything happening back in Snowdin and the Ruins. She was elated to see that the brothers had indeed captured the human, soul intact. They had woken up not long after the brothers put them in the shed, but now that they were weaponless, Undyne had no trouble wrangling them. Under Papyrus’s advice, he had stayed away from his room while the captain of the guard was there, as not to arouse suspicion. They may have the final soul they needed, but that didn’t mean humans were any more popular in the underground. Sans was positive that if Undyne found you, the chances of your waking up would drop to a sudden zero.
To his relief, the small human was very wiggly, and still somewhat murdery, so Undyne set off to the Capital not long after arriving. Sans let out a long breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. It was over.
He noticed Papyrus looking at him strangely, almost pensively. Giving his brother a grin, he chanced a look back towards the window to his room. He wanted to go check on you again, but waiting a bit longer would be safest.
“ *thanks for not ratting me out bro. i know how much you hate lying.”
The Great and Powerful Papyrus doesn’t blush.
“IT WAS NOT A LIE SANS. IT WAS AN OMISSION.” All the same, he looked pleased.
“I DID WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOUR HUMAN THOUGH, IN THE QUESTION OF WHERE THEY WERE TO STAY LONG TERM.”
He lifted a brow bone slightly at the term his brother had decided on. “His human” had a nice ring to it, and it meant a huge step for his human hating sibling. Thinking back on it, his idea to just… keep them in his room was a shitty one at best.
“ *what did you have in mind? she can’t just stay on the couch, and i swear if you are going to suggest keeping her in the shed I will….” There wasn’t really any threat he posed to Paps. “ *i will never pick up my clothes again.”
Youch.
Sans couldn’t remember the last time he had heard Papyrus actually laugh. It was truly a day of progress.
“WELL I WAS GOING TO SUGGEST THE SHED-”
Sans prepared to speak, but Papyrus held up a finger for silence.
“BUT NOT WITHOUT MAKING IT A BIT MORE… HABITABLE.”
He pondered it. He supposed that there wasn’t any reason that couldn’t work, but his lazy tendencies weren’t exactly thrilled at the prospects of hard labor. His expression must have given him away, because he felt his brothers heavy hand rest on his shoulder.
“I GUESS THIS WILL SUFFICE AS PUNISHMENT ENOUGH FOR … FALLING FOR… THE UNDERGROUNDS NUMBER ONE ENEMY.”
Although his jaw was screwed up in faux disgust, there was a joking twinkle in his eyes. It was pretty crazy, wasn’t it?
“ *alright paps. let’s get started.”
“ *ey! no peeking”
It was hard not to - his hands were big, but being made out of bone meant that there were a fair amount of gaps. You screwed your eyes shut and let him lead you out of the house and across the yard.
It had taken another few days for you to build up strength enough to be walking again; but finally you were as good as new. You would always have faint scars; a reminder of the things you’d done, but you kind of liked them. They reminded you that you were not the same person as you were a couple weeks ago.
You were no longer an abuse victim.
You were no longer a prisoner.
You weren’t scared.
And for the first time in a long time, you didn’t feel alone.
The creaking of a familiar door brought you out of your thoughts. You feigned ignorance amusedly, not wanting to hurt their feelings. You had suspected the brothers would want their privacy back eventually, and Sans would appreciate being able to sleep in a bed. By now your back was used to the mattress in there anyway. You hoped that stupid child hadn’t gotten any of their gross blood on it.
“ *ok, you can look now!”
His lifted his hands from your eyes and rested his forearms on your shoulders, skull sitting gently on top of your head. He made a warm contented sound as he breathed in your scent.
“ *paps even helped. i can tell he’s really warming up to you. “
You were certainly surprised. For a second, you couldn’t recognize what used to be the shack that had held you captive. The floors had been cleaned and shone brightly, the center flourished with a large area rug. A new bed, with an actual frame this time, sat in the corner. There was a nice desk flush against another wall, next to a dresser for… well, you’d eventually have more clothes. A couple lamps gave the place a nice light, and a small but comfortable chair sat by the window. Things were fairly mismatched, but living underground, you imagined coming across furnishings was easier said than done. The place felt a lot more warm and inviting, meaning that they even went through the trouble of insulating it for your fragile human self.
You weren’t an emotional person, but you still felt your heart swell with gratitude. The sides of your mouth were strained in a huge grin that rivaled Sans. Your hand entangled with his skeletal one, making him tense slightly. He still wasn’t quite used to shows of affection, so this again, was a new thing for him. Not wanting to ruin the moment, you tried to let go, but he subtly tightened his grip.
“ *n-no. this is nice.”
You hummed in agreement.
“It’s amazing Sans. You guys did all this for me?”
His jaw pressed a bit harder into your scalp as he nodded. He had been a bit nervous, realizing that he sort of assumed that you had wanted to stay with him at all. Was it foolish to assume you had confronted the murderous child for his sake?
He still wasn’t entirely clear on why you liked him at all, being such a weak monster with a depressing social complex, but he sure wasn’t going to question a good thing.
“ *does this mean… you’ll stay?” With me? He wanted to add, but it hung unspoken in the air between them.
The corner of your mouth inched upward into a smirk.
“What’s in it for you?”
“ *huh?”
You tugged him the rest of the way into the shed and closed the door, turning until you were nestled into the hollow of his collarbone. Taking a hold of the tab of his jacket, you tugged it down just enough to access the smooth bone. He shivered as you pressed your lips to the warm surface. Ah.
“I know you, Sans the Skeleton. You’re going to want to arrange some kind of trade, right?”
He lifted a hand to his forehead in mock offense.
“ *you think so little of me!? i toiled over hot magic for days and this is the thanks i get?”
His expression settled into something a little more lustful and intimate; it was hard to ignore your attentions to his neck after all.
“ *but if you’re offering - name your terms human.”
“One, it’s not “Human”. It’s _____”
His eye lights brightened. Sans had been wondering for a while, but wasn’t quite sure how to bring it up.
“ *alright ____, what will you give me in return for my incredible hospitality?”
You elbowed him in the ribs, secretly glad you’d managed to land a guy with a sense of humor as amazing as yours.
“I’m being serious here! Now, I don’t really own much anymore. Hell, even this jacket I’m wearing is on loan from you. But…”
Sans leaned away from you, meeting your eyes with his bright specks.
“ *but?”
If he’d had a stomach, it would surely be full of a swarm of ravenous whimsun.
“I heard you were on the lookout for a human soul?” You gestured to the area you knew the bright orange heart rested. You felt your face turn a vibrant red, realizing how utterly stupid you sounded.
“It kind of needs to stay inside me, but.. since I’m sticking around anyway… I suppose you could… have it.”
His own monster soul was doing somersaults inside his ribs. There was no way she knew exactly what she was insinuating, but the message came across clear all the same.
It took him a couple of flustered minutes to work up the composure to speak, and when he did, it was only one word, whispered quietly between them like some shared secret.
“ *...deal.”